In a recent interview with Channels Television, the outgoing Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, made several claims highlighting the achievements of his administration. This was amidst a contentious election process.
While speaking on the successes of his administration and why his party’s candidate was the best choice among other contestants, Obaseki said Edo state moved from number 22 to 6 in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) ranking. He also claimed that his government pays the highest minimum wage in Nigeria.
“In terms of IGR ranking in Nigeria today, Edo is number 6. From the ranking of 22, we are now at 6. We pay the highest minimum wage in Nigeria. Our government is working for the people.”
The 2024 Edo Governorship Election was conducted on Saturday, September 21, where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as the winner with 291,667 votes. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party candidates, Asue Ighodalo and Olumide Apata, respectively, had 247,274 and 22,763 votes.
Several controversies marked the election, including the PDP’s refusal to sign the Peace Accord agreement ahead of the poll and their rejection of the outcome despite INEC’s issuance of the Certificate of Return to the APC candidate.
Governor Obaseki was first elected into office in 2016 and was re-elected for a second term in 2020.
Claim I: Edo state is number 6 in IGR ranking, from number 22
Verification
To confirm the veracity of the claim, we examined the trends in states’ IGR and rankings from 2015 to 2023. Assessing the yearly analyses conducted by BudgIT during this period, we found that in 2015, Edo State was ranked 5th with an IGR of N19.12 billion. In 2016, when Governor Obaseki assumed office, the state was ranked 7th with an IGR of N23.041 billion. Edo maintained the 7th position in both 2017 and 2018, with IGR figures of N25.34 billion and N28.43 billion, respectively. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) corroborated these figures. While the NBS reported Edo State’s IGR as N35.22 billion in 2019, the state was ranked 30th in BudgIT’s Year-on-Year Most Improved IGR Index, with an increase of N1.053 billion.
According to the NBS data, Edo State had an IGR of N35.227 billion in 2020, N42.427 billion in 2021, and N47.458 billion in 2022. The BudgIT IGR Index ranked the state 10th in 2020 (N27.18 billion), 9th in 2021 (N38.67 billion), and 7th in 2022 (N45.47 billion). For the first quarter of 2023, Dataphyte ranked Edo State 12th with an IGR of N14.84 billion. However, a complete report for the full year of 2023 was unavailable at the time of filing this report.
Verdict: INACCURATE
Governor Obaseki’s claim that Edo State moved from 22nd to 6th in IGR ranking is inaccurate based on the data from BudgIT and NBS. The highest confirmed position in recent years is 7th, not 6th, and there is no indication the state was ranked as low as 22nd within the period under review.
Claim II: Edo state pays the highest minimum wage in Nigeria
Verification
In July 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed a new minimum wage bill into law, setting the wage at N70,000 following months of negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour. This change was driven by the economic realities that arose after the Tinubu administration took office in 2023.
Earlier, in April 2024, the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, approved a minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the state. The governor made this announcement during the commissioning of the new Labour House, stating that the new wage would take effect from May 1, 2024.
In an editorial published by Premium Times in September 2024, it was reported that Lagos and Edo were the only states paying N77,000 and N70,000 as minimum wages, respectively. However, in April, the Lagos State government clarified that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did not announce an increase in the minimum wage to N70,000 as some reports had suggested. According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, what the governor meant was that the state had been paying a wage allowance of N35,000 since January, which effectively raised civil servants’ total earnings beyond the standard minimum wage.
In a recent development, the Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, reportedly approved a new minimum wage of N72,500 for Kogi workers, with immediate effect. Similarly, the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, approved a minimum wage of N77,000 for the state workers, also with immediate effect. Other state governors have made similar promises to implement the new N70,000 minimum wage.
Verdict: ALL WE KNOW